Yes.

As you can see, I am going over some mantras in my head this morning as I wait for my Botany class to begin.

It rained a little this morning. I don't know if there is more on the way, I sure do hope so. Many people have started thinking about fall gardening and started asking me about the co-op and the garden.

The garden is dead.

I didn't have the energy, time nor money to do the upkeep this summer. It would have included weeding like crazy in the heat, watering every other day and shooting up our utility bill and watching the garden die anyway. Something I definitely didn't want to deal with.

The Mosaic Co-op Garden is undergoing some changes. We might become a more mobile group, moving from satelitte site to site, helping people with their own gardens and helping communities and neighborhoods to get more involved. I think this change is necessary and a good thing.

Chris and I worked out last night and then I went this morning before heading here to campus. Here is my goal: I have always wanted to eat at this restaurant here in town called Wink. My goal is to lose 10 lbs by October and if I do, then Chris and I will go eat at Wink.

My next goal is to treat myself to some new running shoes if I lose 20 lbs by the end of the year. The new shoes will definitely be needed by then.

How will I strive to attain these goals? I am going to avoid eat refined sugar, workout at least four days a week (even if all I am doing is cardio), walk with Brandy more and try to cut down on the beer/wine intake, which I have already started doing and it's good. It's simple really, just don't keep it around the house. Same for sugar.

Anyways, keep praying for rain, praying for Ginny to get a job in her field and for me to get in shape and lead a more healthy lifestyle.

Thanks!

First day of school...

I will not care about what the professor thinks of me.

I will not care about the other students and what they might think of me.

I will care about going to class.

I will care about doing my work, efficiently and accurately.

I will care about finishing this course.

I will care about my grade, but not obsess over it.

I can do this.

ummm

This.







Computer....





Is....





Soooo...


S...l...o...w.


Argh. I have to type fast.

Tonight I have a date.

With my husband. This is how our week went: Chris would get up and leave by 6AM, I sleep. I get up and go to work, then come home around 1030 and Chris is already in bed. I think we have seen each other in waking life for about an hour.

Seriously.

Argh, luckily it won't always be like this. But we made plans to go out tonight. By ourselves. With no friends. With no other plans but to hang out with each other.

Sigh.

Gin sleep and forgiveness

Usually, sleep steals me away. I lay awake for a couple of minutes and the next thing I know I am waking up the next day.

Last night, sleep was very gentle. As I lay in bed, it crept up on my and enveloped me in a soft cocoon. And I smiled knowing I was going to be off in Dream's territory very soon.

This morning's dream proved to be interesting. I woke up and then faded back into Dream's realm for alittle while, at least where I could control the dream before it got too complicated.

Here's the dream:
I ran into my ex-boyfriend while I was working. I am just getting a break and when I see him, I convince him to stay and talk with me. Then my anger and bitterness unleash and I tell him everything that I had bottled up for five years because of the lack of closure on our relationship.

It feels very, very good. Very good.

Then, the scenery changes and the dialouge is continued on South Congress during a little shopping festival called "First Thursdays" and I continue to get louder and louder until I am almost screaming at him. He gets angry because he knows I am right and because I am embarassing him so he walks away, only to return and stand very close to me. Then I hear a loud bang and everything slows down and gets quieter, like I am underwater. I realize then that CL shot me.

Later, I am on the witness stand testifying and prosecution is cross examining me, hoping I will break down into tears so CL is locked away. But when they ask me how I would punish him, I say "He needs help, counseling, not a jail. I believe in love and forgiveness and when I was brought back to life in the ER, I realized I forgave CL for shooting me and for our entire relationship together."

Then I woke up.

I shocked myself into waking up. I couldn't believe those words came out of my mouth, but as I awoke, I realized that is exactly what I need to do. To continue doing. Every day. Not only CL, but ML, the guys that pushed all the wrong buttons the other day, with the lady on her cellphone tailgating me...all those peeps need love and forgiveness.

And it is hard.

Especially with Texas drivers.

Busy busy bee

Wow. We got sooo much done this weekend. Well, mainly on Sunday.
Here goes:
Chris and I went to the gym for over an hour.
We go to Hyde Park Bar and Grill for a brunch treat for going to gym.
We go to Home Depot (I know! I hate Home Depot but they have successfully run out every mom n pop business).
We go to Target for more stuff.
I make some badass gazpacho soup to eat throughout the week and clean the kitchen.
Chris puts a big shelf in the bathroom that is now home to a huge, gorgeous fern.
Chris starts putting together his tool closet in the work room.
We both do loads of laundry.

Exhausted but feeling good, we go to Opal Divine's for some pre-church beer.

Ahh...

Today, I slept in. Sorry Chris, but I had to. I couldn't move this morning from working out yesterday.

Still no rain. Still contemplating naked rain dance.

Dry

Oh Sweet Jesus, I have been dreaming about rain. Big fat drops that fall like rocks. Rain streaming in sideways. Rain making puddles around my house and rain that makes me curse that we don't have our gutters up yet to collect it and save it for days like these. R. A. I. N. Please, Lord allMighty, send us some rain.

Or should I do a naked rain dance in our front yard? Would getting arrested make it rain?

Home Hot Home

I think that saying is supposed to be Home Sweet Home, but I am just baking in the heat too much to not complain about it.

We booked it back here to Texas. On Wednesday, we drove about 8 hours and made it from Arlington, VA to Knoxville, TN. We stayed the night there and got out by ten the next morning and made it into Tyler, Texas that same day. What? Yes, we drove 13 hours and made it to Tyler and stayed with my in-laws. It was good to see them, although the timing was a bit rough.

Then on Friday at four in the afternoon we pulled into Austin. Hot, simmering Austin. Sigh. We unloaded the delicates from Ginny's loaded down car (like the records) and then tried to stay cool in the AC.

Tomorrow I go back to work and immediately into training. Wow. Two weeks goes by fast.

It's been an interesting weekend here in Austin thus far. Friday night we went to a small apartment warming party where Ginny met a lot of our new Austin friends like Molly, Kim, and Pierce. We also interacted with some very young recent Austin transplants who pushed all the right (wrong) buttons.

What is it about being 21 that is so thrilling and exciting but so annoying as well? It's almost like being a teenager again! I remember when I was 21 and I loved it but I also knew that I was really annoying at times with my "I am so smart and well read and cultured and openminded" attitude. The teenage years of the twenties.

Last night was our friends band CD release party, the Sad Accordians. It was probably their best show, the Parish was packed and the vibe v. v. good. Afterwards, we went to a new coffee shop near our house for an afterparty that lasted until about 4am. Oi vey, speaking of being 21, I think that was the last time I stayed up that late (or early). So, this morning, I pulled out all the 21 year old stops and slept until 130pm. Heaven. Ly.

So, today, my last day of vacation was spent lounging, eating brunch and drinking 2.50 bloody marys and then lounging again before heading to church. Lovely.

Well, my coffee has been drunk, the newspaper beckons me and I must depart for now.

Peace,
Michelle

Hey! I drove through New York!

I was so close to my friend Bill but a detour was not in the itenerary (spelling, like hello?!) so I couldn't make a surprise visit to Bill. Although, that would have been v. v. cool had I shown up at his door out of the blue.

We left Cape Cod today and I drove through the following states: Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. Ginny drove through all the other states, ie: Mass, Delaware (yawn) and Maryland and DC.

Now we are less than a mile from the Pentagon. Creeepyyy.

Tomorrow we pack the cah. Yup, I typed it like that. I typed cah. So, what are you gonna do 'bout it?

Anyways, errands and packing. Ginny is getting stressed, so we are drinking wine at the moment. Please send good thoughts our way over the next couple of days as we pack and head out for Texas.

I already miss the ocean and the Nantucket Sound. But I can't wait to get back to my home, however messy it may be. Ginny and I have big plans for the fall and winter as far as gardening and yard stuff goes. We are going to add granite gravel around the garden beds to help with weeds, put in a drip irrgation system, build a cold frame, plant vetch and alfalfa while the beds rest, double dig and add compost and manure and build a chicken coop and run for spring chickens. I am excited, I think Ginny living with us will be good for me as she is a highly motivational person. She always makes me want to do stuff, whether it is gardening, sewing or riding my bike. I lurve her.

It is kind of weird being in DC. I saw the capital from afar and shrugged. The Texas Capital is bigger (it is) and I really just didn't care about all the hubbub and government agencies that go on there. At one time in my life I would have been drooling to be this close to DC but now I just wished I had embroidered a shirt that says something clever or witty, I am too tired right now to actually think of one. Got any suggestions?

Oh! Ginny and I also have big plans on doing more outdoorsy type things, like hiking, visiting state parks, etc. Super. Excited.

Oh! And Happy Birthday to Joy Kusek, one of my most favorite person on the planet. You are dearly loved by me and Ginny with a G and we can't wait to see you and your shawls.

Ummm...So I guess I will go now. But one more thing: Please send prayers and good thoughts towards Tyler, Texas to my in-laws. My father-in-law, Noble, is dealing with some surgery stuff soon and I am sure will appreciate any extra good thoughts directed his way. If you have met this famous Noble character, you will know that he is very strong and can handle any foe with ease, but you also know that he loves any extra help, prayers included. Just something to keep in mind.

Austin! I will be home soon! To bake in your plus 90 weather, to flip flop down to the refreshing Barton Springs, to ride my bike to Barflys and to see all my lovely friends again.

Ci vediamo,
Michelle

Yesterday, I ate some chowdah.

One of my favorite things here are the accents. But I don't like the accents as much as the whales we saw the other day.

Wait. Whales?

Yes, whales. Humpback whales and finback whales, which are the second largest creatures on the earth. Yup, I saw three of them. They were beautiful. The finback whales are also called the greyhounds of the sea; they are slick and fast. They can go 25 knots, which I have no idea what that means. Not even Ginny could tell me.

Anyways, so I am here on Cape Cod. We are in Upper Cape, which is really the bicep of the Cape Cod arm and south of the rest of the Cape. Hyannis, MA Cape Cod to be exact. Wednesday we went to the National Seashore where the water is about 60 degrees and the weather was one of the hottest days here, 100 degrees and the water took our breath away. Literally. We would bake in the sun a little bit, run into the water (all right, tip toe gingerly while sucking in our breath) and then submerge a couple of times and then run back to our towels to bake again.

The hard life.

Thursday we went to Nickerson State Park and the salt marshes, a playground of ponds, beaches and forests where one could almost see a little Ginny running around in when she was just a wee lass.

Friday we went to Provincetown for some whale watching. P'town (as the locals call it) is at the very tip of the cape and was officially the first landing site for the pilgrims. This is also where the boats launch from on whale watching excursions, the same boats Ginny used to work on. I can see now why Ginny loves the ocean, the boats and the marine life so much. Seeing whales has to be one of the best experiences I have had yet.

We saw 8 humpback whales with countless fluke sightings (where you can see their tail as they are diving under), one feeding (where a whale comes up through the water head first, mouth open, eating fish), a couple of fluke fishing (where they slap their tail on the surface to stun the fish before eating) and one breach (where the whale actually jumps a little out of the water).

Wow.

Humpback whales rarely swim together in pods, they are mainly solitary creatures. They do come together and use teamwork to fish and feed however. At one time there were three of them swimming side by side and parallel to the boat. A fourth one lagged behind. The one closest to the boat started to turn towards us and slowly approached the boat and then dove underneath the boat, you could hear everybody on board suck in their breath as this massive creature approached.

The rest of the day we spent exploring Ptown which is probably one of the most liberal cities in New England. This is the town where most gay and lesbian couples came to get married when Mass legalized it a couple of years back. There was one street that reminded me a lot of New Orleans. It was narrow and the pedestrians walked as they pleased in the middle of the road. There were shops of all sorts and pubs lining the road. There were people of all sorts walking about enjoying the cool weather. It was marvelous. I got some Christmas shopping done and bought a cool necklace for myself. I love vacations.

Yesterday was a little quieter for us as we ran some errands in the morning and then hung out at the beach near Ginny's cottage. It was in the 80s and last night I had to wear my new sweater jacket I purchased for this trip. It was lovely.

I am almost ready to come home though. I miss my husband and I miss our dog. I miss my friends and oddly enough, I miss work a bit. I think only partially due to the fact that I got the supervisor job I interviewed for before I left.

But it has been great here. The weather, the beach, the pine trees, getting to meet Ginny's family (which explains a lot about a person) and getting to relax in general.

And the seafood, did I mention the seafood? Breakfast lunch and dinner. I am kidding, only lunch and dinner. I have had haddock, cod (called scrod here), blue fish, lobster and clams. My stomach has been upholding pretty well considering the mass amounts of protein I am putting in it everyday.

Tomorrow we leave the Cape, arrive in Virginia and rest. Then Tuesday we start packing Ginny up, hang out with some of her friends and then we start the journey to Texas on Wednesday morning. We should be home around Saturday or Sunday depending what route we take.

Ann, I am not lazy. Just on vacation. Also, if anyone asks about me or when I should be coming home, send them to this site.

Good news, though, eh? Tomorrow should be 88 in Austin? Is that right or did the newspaper I was reading start smoking crack?

Love,
Michelle